Friday, June 22, 2012

Q & A: Homemade low-sugar jam for diabetes

Photo courtesy of USDA and National Center for Home Food Preservation

Q:Is
there a way to make homemade jam for family members with diabetes? M.P.
Grandville, MI

A:Summer
is a great time to take advantage of the fresh local fruit, and preserving them
for winter eating.Yes, there are
a number of options for making low-sugar jam from fresh seasonal fruit.According to Michigan State University Extension,making low-sugar types of jams and jellies is a different process and requires specific recipes. It usually does
not work to “wing it” and use regular pectin with less sugar, because the jam
will not turn out. Food science (chemistry) is a balance between ingredients. Bet you never thought of your kitchen as
a food laboratory, did you?

Here are the options for making low-sugar jams:

Option 1:Buy
the “low sugar” or “light” pectin at the grocery store, and follow the
directions on the package insert for best results. This is a different type of
pectin (low methoxyl) that thickens jam with a lot less sugar.In our area, I have seen a light
version of Sure Jel and Mrs. Wage’s pectin.In my opinion, this method has the best flavor.

Option 2: Use regular pectin and add an artificial
sweetener. Use the recipe in the
regular pectin for this and follow directions. Some artificial sweeteners such
as aspartame do not retain their sweetness in a mixture like this for more than
three to four months; don’t plan on it for long-term storage.

Option 3: Use unflavored gelatin as a thickener, by
following specific recipes (a couple of recipes using this method are available
from the National Center for Home Food Preservation website). This jam must be
kept refrigerated.

Option 4:Boiling or simmering fruit pulp until it thickens and resembles
jam. This is similar to the traditional way apple butter is made.

These types of jams have about 5
grams carbohydrate per tablespoon. Even though you may still be using sugar in the low-sugar
jams, it is significantly less sugar, and the carbohydrate content is similar
to the light jams available at the grocery store.

Remember, there is also carbohydrate (natural sugar) in the
fruit itself, so even if you opted to make a jam with no added sugar, you
cannot call it carbohydrate-free or sugar-free.

For those of you who have no time or desire to make your own
low-sugar jam, there are some nice options available at the grocery store. I
have seen store brand “all fruit” spreads, Smucker’s low-sugar jam, and
others. We like the E.D. Smith brand of “More Fruit” preserves (half the
calories of regular preserves) found at Costco. There are 6 grams of
carbohydrate in one tablespoon (compared to 13 in standard jam).

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About Me

I'm a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Educator. Day job: Outpatient nutrition counseling.
Moonlighting: Food and Nutrition Writer and Recipe Analysis.
I have been writing "Ask the Dietitian"
food and nutrition column since 1985;
my column has appeared weekly in
The Muskegon Chronicle,
The Grand Rapids Press, and
The Jackson Citizen Patriot.